Epidemics, Pandemics and How to Control Them by Professor Chris Whitty

Some infections come in repeated epidemic waves. Others are new and suddenly spread unexpectedly in a human population. This can be very dangerous, and is always very alarming; for example, this is the centenary of the 1918/19 influenza pandemic which killed more people than the war.

A known human threat such influenza may mutate or a new infection jump the species barrier from animals to become transmissible between humans: examples include HIV, SARS and Ebola, and the great historical example of plague. What happens then depends on the route of transmission, the infecting organism and the medical countermeasures available.

Our methods for tacking an airborne pandemic like influenza are very different from those for touch (Ebola), insect vector (Zika), water (cholera) or sexual transmission (HIV). This lecture will consider epidemics and how to tackle them.

No reservations are required for this lecture. It will be run on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the lecture